By: LDR (@lisadelarosa)

If you happened to visit the shopping malls last weekend, you would see kids dressed up in their costumes to trick or treat. This goes to show that Halloween is fast approaching and the spirit of the holiday is rising. No wonder Tom Clutch is excited to show you his costumes throughout this blog for halloween. 

But before that, have you ever wondered why people wear costumes during this particular holiday? Well, to give you a brief background, it was said that this practice originated with the Celtic Day of the Dead. It was celebrated by the Celtic people during the ancient times where they would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off spirits. 

As the day progresses, some practices have been modified and modernized that would suit today’s Halloween which varies from country to country. The most well-known celebration is the Dia de los Muertos which originated in Mexico, and is being celebrated all over Latin America. You’ll immediately recognize this celebration through their signature decoration called Calaveras or “sugar skull” that is colorfully painted, which is depicted in the animated movie called Coco. On the other hand, the most common and modern way of celebrating Halloween is by attending parties, which of course, requires you to wear costumes. 

However, wearing costumes is not exclusive for this holiday only. There are also other instances where people wear costumes such as cosplaying. But, first things first, cosplay is pretty much on the other side of the spectrum when it comes to wearing costumes and here’s why. Cosplay or “costume and play” is the fundamental part of conventions where you can see a cosplayer wearing costume and even acting their preferred fictional characters from movies, comic books, manga, anime, video games, etc. Most people consider cosplay as performance art in which I agree. 

In addition, cosplayers usually handmake their costumes and is very hands-on when it comes to attention to small details. Making costumes for cosplay usually takes months since you have to customize it and gather materials that would complete the overall piece of the costume. It is usually built or created for the purpose of being worn many times in different conventions. Whereas, Halloween costumes will just need a few days to create in time for the party. In addition, costumes for Halloween are fairly general which could go from scary costumes to any recognizable pop icon like Eleven from Stranger Things, Wednesday Addams, Frankenstein, Michael Jackson (Thriller), etc. Whereas, in cosplay, some fictional characters that the cosplayers portray could sometimes be recognized only by few people, and the community of cosplayers.

Going back to Tom Clutch, as you have witnessed through the visuals, he’s gonna wear different anime costumes for Halloween because he wants to go beyond the limit. And, here’s the catch, all the designs that you have seen will be included in the brand new sticker packs called “Festival” which are set to be released this week. Again, here’s the set of anime characters you could get in each sticker pack: